Fire-fighting equipment



July 25, 1933. J G|| SENAN 1,919,365

FIRE FIGHTING EQUIPMENT Filed Oct. 10, 1930 Patented July 25, 1933hurrah JOHN J. GILSENAN, OIL NEWARK, NEW JERSEY rrnn-riei-rrrneEQUIPMENT Application filed October 10, 1930; Serial No. 487,829.

This invention relates to an'improved firefighting and similar equipmentand is designed to provide a portable easily managed water projectingmember which has a turning or swivelled connection to enable the memberto be directed in various directions without disturbing the handles bywhich it is held.

The object of the invention is to provide a device which does not leakunder high pressure and which is adapted for holding both manually andby means of a support. The invention is primarily designed for holding awater curtain to shield property or firemen from the heat radiating froma fire. l/Vith the curtain of water before them firemen can work closeupto a fire and the sheet of water forming the curtain presents noobstacle to the directing of a stream of water through it parent.

Another object of said invention is to provide a device in which thewater, in its pas sage through the same, will be initially caused toswirl and be deflected away from or rear wardly from its outlet beforethe same reaches said outlet in order to obtain a uniform distributionof the water as it leaves the outlet. I

Another object of the invention is to provide a fluid delivery devicewhich can easily be held by one person or left lying in position andwhich will not lash or swing from side to side even under high pressure.This not only insures the safety of firemen and other persons frominjury, from such whipping or flaying of the nozzle, but also maintainsthe stream or water curtain in the proper position until intentionallymoved. The invention also has for an object the use of an inclinednozzle or curtain in which the stream impinges on a wall of the nozzle.In consequence of this the fluid under pressure has a tendency to forcethe nozzle forwardly, and the hose becomes straightened to a greatextent and there is no excessive back pressure on the nozzle. Instead offour or five men holding a nozzle under high pressure it can be easilyheld by one man or left lying in position without any manual assistance.

on the fire as the curtain is practically transreceive a hosecoupling'19. The member 15' Furthermore, the handles and the hook on theswivel connection or other annularly spaced projections are useful forholding the nozzle in place as any two of them can be rested on theground or floor and prevent f the rocking of the nozzle and also allowsthe nozzle to be advanced or retreated by sliding along the ground bypulling or pushing on thehose line to the rear of the nozzle. Inpositions where heat is intense or where other damages are present thisis a decided ad vantage.

Another object of the invention is to provide a leak-proof swivelconnection having a fiXed part and arotatable part therein; the

stuffing box orits equivalent being contained entirely within therotatable part.

Thecurtain is illustrated in the accompanying drawing. Figure 1 isa faceview oi my improved connection equipped with my im-. provedwatercurtain. Figure 2 is a central vertical section of Figure 1. Figure3 is a top view of Figure 2 with the water curtain removed. Figure 4 isan enlarged section of the rotatable or inner part of the connection."

The swivel or rotatable mounting or connection comprises two spacedbearings 10 and 11 which are connected by a handle or handles 12.

The handles are preferably cast on one bearing and detachably secured tothe other as by the screws 13. One of the bearings is provided with ahook 1% which extends preferably at right angles to the plane of thehandles. The handles are for control by fire- 8 men or the like and thehook for supporting the device on a projection such as the rung of aladder.

lnside of these bearings is a rotatable part which has a connection ateach end, at one end for a hose and at the other end for a nozzle orwater curtain. The device illustrated comprises a lower member 15 and anupper member 16 fitting respectively in the bearings 11 and 10 andhaving a relatively loose fit to insure easy turning; The lower member15 has a flange l7 resting against the bearing 11 a screw-threaded part18 tohas a screw-threaded portion 20 on the outwe side just above theflange 17. Around the member 15 is the barrel 21 with a flange 22 at thebottom and resting on the flange 17. A packing or washer 23 rests on theflange 22 and the flange 24 of the member 15. The ring 25 isscrew-threaded and fits the screwthreaded part 20. V] hen screwed downtightly it compresses the packing 23 and makes a tight joint at thatpoint. The holes 26 or their equivalents are placed in thering 25 toenable it to be turned. 7

The upper member 16 and the barrel are screwed together at 2'? and asthe barrel is spaced from the lower member this space forms a stuffingbox for the packing 28 which is compressed and forms a water-tightjoint. The bottom face of the member 16 is recessed as at 29 to provideoutside edges which compress the packing tightly against the lowermember and the barrel.

The upper member 16 has its upper end enlarged to form a flange 30bearing against the top face of the bearing 10. The flange isscrew-threaded as at 31 to receive a water curtain or other suitablenozzle. The lock nuts or rings 32 and 33 are placed on the outerscrew-threaded part of the upper member 16. The ring 32 holds the barrel21 from rotating relative to the upper member and the ring 33 can beforced against the bearing 10 to hold the rotatable part againstrotation. It will be evident that this form of connection and yetprovides ample room for grasping the handles 12 and can be easily andreadily.

' caught over a railing or runwhen the nozzle is to be left unattended.

' The connection is particularly adapted for use with a water curtain34. The water curtain has a screw-threaded inlet 35 to be secured tothe'screw-threade'd part 31 of the rial entering the line to be held inthe end of the screen and still allowing space at the sides for thepassage of water.

The water curtain is curved at the back as at 40 to form a reservoir andalso a face by which the water is directed to the arcuate thin outletopening 41. This form of water curtain provides an unbroken even sheetof water which can be used to protect merchandise or on the ground toprovide, with the back edge of the nozzle or water curtain, a threepoint or tripod contact. This supports the nozzle in position when laidon the ground with the outlet of the nozzle inclined upwardly.

The nozzle is thus supported against lashing or whipping. This is due tothe fluid hitting the inside of the wall 40 and thus providing a forwardthrust to largely counteract the back pressure and the nozzle is easilyhandled by one person or lies quietly on the ground even under highpressure. This is in marked contrast with. the ordinary hose nozzlerequiring three or four men to hold it. To prevent the nozzle turning inthe swivel connection and at other times allowing its rotation orpartial rotation for adjustment, I provide a holding means. One form isshown in the drawing. Due to a limited longitudinal movement of therotatable part in-;=

flange 30 and spaced recesses 43, say, 12 or;

16 of them, in the bearing 18. lVhen the bearings are pulled or snappedback the nozzle can be rotatably adjusted relative to the handles andwhen the handles are used to push the'bearings forwardly the lugs 42seat in the recesses 43 and hold the nozzle against turning, relative tothe bearings and the handles. This is particularly useful when thenozzle is laid in position without manual operation and is intended todirecta streamat a fixed point or place a water curtain to covera'certain locality.

Various changes can be made inthe construction of the parts withoutdeparting from the scope of my invention.

I claim I '1. A connection comprising spaced bearings having handlesconnecting them and at least one having a hook projecting at rightangles to the handles, and a central rotatablemember in the bearings andprojecting be yond them and having hose connections at its ends.

2. A connection comprising spaced bearings having handles connectingthem and at' least one having a hook projecting at right angles to thehandles, an d a central two part frotatable member in the bearings andprojecting beyond them and having hose connections at its ends the partsof said rotatable member being arranged for fllllCl tight rotation onewith respect to the other.

3. A device as in claim2 in combination with means for locking saidbearlngs to sald central rotatable member.

4. A. connection comprising spaced bearings having handles connectingthem and at least one having a hook projectingat right angles to thehandles, and acentral rotatable member 1n the bearings and. pro ectingbe yond them and having a hose connection at one of its ends, a nozzlesecured to the other end of said rotatable member and constructed todischarge at an angle to the axis of said rotatable member, the bearingadjacent said nozzle having an annular series of recesses forcing towardsaid nozzle, and, said nozzle having a projection arranged to beselectively inserted into any of said recesses whereby said nozzle canbe locked in any predetermined rotative position with respect to saidbearing.

5. A nozzle comprising a portion providing an inlet passage and a bodyportion di rectly connected thereto, said body portion formed of anoutwardly flaringwall generally disposed transversely across the inletpassage at an angle of substantially 45 to the axis thereof, and asecond outwardly fiaring wall joined to the first wall along the edgesof said walls, the outwardly flaring walls being spaced at their outerends to provide a narrow elongated discharge opening, said first namedoutwardly flaring wall having a bowl-shaped portion arranged with itsconcave side disposed toward and in alinement with said inlet passageand alip portion ex tending from said bowl-shaped portion to saiddischarge opening, said lip portion being reversely curved with respectto said concave side and presenting a convex surface toward said secondnamed flaring wall whereby water entering said inlet passage andstriking said concave side of said first named flaring wall will bedeflected and will be passed by said lip portion to said outlet openingwithout formation of eddy currents.

JOHN J. GILS ENAN.

